Thermal insulation fibers with a Kevlar aerogel core and a porous Nomex shell.

Abstract

Kevlar aerogel fibers which inherit the aerogel's brilliant properties of low density, high porosity and large surface area are promising candidates for thermal insulation applications in textiles. To enhance the mechanical strength of Kevlar aerogel fibers, an extra Nomex shell was introduced by a simple coaxial-wet-spinning approach. The resultant coaxial fibers were observed to have a Kevlar aerogel core and a porous Nomex shell. Besides, there also formed an air gap between the core and the shell. This multi-layered coaxial structure with numerous pores inside contributes to the excellent thermal insulation performance of the fibers and their fabrics. The temperature differences between the hot plate and the outer surface of the fabrics were measured to be as high as 80 °C when exposed to a temperature of 300 °C. In addition, these fibers also performed well in thermal stability, and almost did not decompose before 380 °C. Not only that, the breaking strength of the Nomex shell can be up to twice that of the Kevlar core, resulting in a significant improvement in the fiber's mechanical strength. It can be envisaged that the developed coaxial fibers with excellent thermal insulation and endurance properties as well as improved mechanical strength may have broad prospects for thermal insulation at high temperatures.